


this thing we've got going (it's complicated)

by scary_white



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Avatar Zuko (Avatar), Azula (Avatar) Redemption, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sibling Bonding, Timeline What Timeline, Zuko (Avatar)-centric, i took one look at the time line and said no ❤️, idk yet, possible zukka, there's a lot to unpack here but stick with me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:48:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26457460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scary_white/pseuds/scary_white
Summary: After learning his father's horrific plan and having no way to stop it, Zuko had truly believed that his life could not get any worse. But then, he woke up one hundred years in the future to a war torn world, and he found himself proven wrong.Between coming to terms with this new reality, winning the trust of his new Water Tribe traveling companions, and repairing the relationship with a sister who hates him, Zuko has a lot on his hands.And then, of course, there is the small matter of mastering all four elements and stopping a war.Nothing he can't handle. Right?
Relationships: Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 74
Kudos: 426
Collections: A:tla





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i really like avatar!zuko aus, but i don't think i've seen any variation of what i've got planned, so i decided to give it a shot. you'd think that since its an au centered around zuko, the first chapter would be from his perspective, but no, it starts from sokkas perspective

Looking back on it, Sokka could not tell you what lesson should be taken from that fateful day. On one hand, opening his mouth and being an asshole is what set his sister off on a preachy rage and thus led to enough trouble to last him a life-time just in the span of one year. On the other, if he hadn’t had opened his mouth, they would never have won the war. So whether the lesson to be learned was to lay back and keep your mouth shut, or if it was to always say what’s on your mind and piss off your sister at any given opportunity, there was no way he could tell you which one it was. 

Typically speaking though, assery was usually the way to go. 

Of course this time, the story goes a bit differently. 

Oh, it started the same for the water siblings. Sokka was an asshole, Katara snapped, and out from the ice tumbled a peculiar little Airbender. 

Katara was quick to catch him, despite Sokka’s protest. She held him as he came to, and the both of them watched with rapt attention as the boy slowly gathered his senses. There was a moment where concern washed over the boy’s features before he leapt out of Katara’s hold in a way that was almost a bit too smooth and just a little unnatural. 

Katara gasped, and Sokka lowered himself into a defensive position, aiming his spear at the boy, ready to defend both his sister and himself in the event that the stranger attacked. 

Sokka watched with suspicion as the boy glanced around his surroundings. When his gaze landed back with the siblings he scratched his head and said,

"I feel like I'm forgetting something."

Sokka scowled, "What--? Who are you, and how did you get in the ice?" 

"Sokka, don't be rude," Katara admonished, batting his spear away from the child.

"Sorry about my brother," She said, "He's kind of an asshole--"

"--Hey!"

"I'm Katara, and this is Sokka. We found you in the ice just now."

The child beamed at her, "I'm Aang," he chirped. Then his smile fell away. "Sorry…" He said, "I just really feel like I'm forgetting something… Something important-- Appa!" 

"What are you--"

Sokka cut himself off as he had just witnessed the child actually leap _fifteen_ feet in the air and over the wall of ice he had emerged from. 

"Huh?!"

He shared and incredulous look with his sister before promptly breaking off into a mostly intelligible, whispered argument, that went something a little like this:

_Incoherent whisper shouting_ "Airbender!"

_Blah. blah_. "Fire nation spy!"

"Air. Bender."

"It could be a -- _incoherent whisper shouting--_ We need to-- _intelligible gesturing--_ Leave, Katara!"

These kinds of arguments were quite frequent with the siblings, and more often than not, they ended with Sokka being doused with Katara's magic water. Sokka supposed he should count himself lucky that he came out of this argument dry, however, the blast of fire and the panicky air bender running from that direction was still a less than ideal end to the discussion. 

Aang ran up to the two of them breathless, and said,

"Hey guys, I think I remember what I forgot now." 

Sokka's blood ran cold as he caught sight of the figure who emerged next from the wall of ice. Without thinking about it, he stepped protectively in front of his little sister. Ready to protect her at all costs from the approaching threat. 

It was a girl, maybe a few years younger than Katara, though she held herself with an unnerving confidence as she stomped towards the three of them. 

She was dressed in fire nation red, and her robes were fitting for royalty. It was bad enough that this girl was fire nation, it was worse that she was a fire bender. What sealed the deal and made Sokka genuinely believe they would all be dead that day, was the flame shaped crown placed perfectly in the girl's hair. 

He didn't know what a fire princess was doing out there in the ice, but he knew that if she was there, the fire navy would not be far behind. The village would be destroyed and Katara would be taken away from them. 

They would be helpless, wiped away like they were nothing. Sokka tightened his grip on the spear anyways.

She stepped up to the three of them and smiled a saccharine sweet smile.

"Peasants," She said to them, "I suggest you step away so I may drown this idiot air bender.

"Woah, woah, woah," Said Aang, "Let's be reasonable here, you wouldn't _actually_ do that."

The fire princess blinked once at the airbender, before Sokka was pulling himself and his sister out of harm's way as the girl lunged. 

"Oh won't I?" 

Sokka turned around to look at the scene before him and there was the girl at the edge of the ice, holding Aang up by the back of his robes and dangling him over the edge. 

"I once pushed my brother off a roof. Do you really believe that I would hesitate to end your pathetic life?"

Katara tugged at Sokka's sleeve frantically.

"We have to do something!" She hissed

Sokka nodded mutely but made no move to intervene. He was not particularly interested in risking his or his little sister's life over a kid they'd just met. 

But then,

"She won't actually drown him. He's her only ride home."

Sokka yelped and scrambled to adjust his grip on his spear as he spun to confront the person who had snuck up behind them. 

To his dismay, it was another from the fire nation, though he didn't wear a crown and the kid looked half a step away from death. 

He had peeling gauze that wrapped around half of his face, covering what appeared to be a burn-- if the singed hair and the angry skin creeping out from underneath the bandages were anything to go by. 

He was sickly pale, even by fire nation standards, and despite being in the South Pole, beads of sweat collected at his hairline. If Sokka had to guess, he'd say the kid was fighting an infection from his injury. 

The girl turned at the interruption, though still holding Aang out over the edge. She looked the boy up and down once before saying,

"Zuzu, so glad to see you're back with us." 

Aang beamed at the other kid.

"Hi, Zuko!" He chirped, "You look terrible." 

The girl scowled at the airbender, and promptly dropped him into the water. 

Katara gasped and rushed to help the boy out of the freezing ocean. 

"How could you do that?" She admonished, "He could freeze to death!"

The girl only rolled her eyes. 

"It's okay," Aang said, somehow still cheerful despite having just been dropped into freezing water, "Us airbenders are really good at regulating our temperatures. And besides, watch what I can do."

Sokka, who hadn't ever seen any air bending before, then had to pick his jaw up off the floor as the child spun the air around him into a tornado, and came out completely dry.

Katara cheered at the powerful display of bending.

“That was amazing, Aang!” 

The fire nation girl snorted, “What, have you never seen an air bender before?”

Sokka’s eyes widened at the girl’s incredible show of insensitivity. Her people kill the airbenders and destroy their homes and then she has the audacity to gloat about it? How dare she? Sokka didn’t believe in hitting girls, but he was about to make an exception to the rule for this one. 

Evidently Katara felt the same way. 

“How _dare_ you?” She said, beginning to throw her hands around in the same way as she had before. Sokka gulped, glancing warily at the water that had already begun rippling around them. 

“How-how could you be so insensitive?!”

The other fire kid, Zuko, who was already weak from infection, stumbled to the ground as the water grew violent around them and disturbed the ice float. 

“Um…” Said Zuko, at the same time that Sokka yelled,

“Katara!” 

But Katara’s angry tirade continued. 

“I knew the fire nation was bad, but you- you’re just vile! You’re a nasty, nasty ashmaker!” 

And then the ice wall behind them cracked, and Sokka turned just in time to see the ice about to crash down on top of them, ready to crush them all. 

Only, they were never crushed. At the last second, the ice shattered into harmless little pieces that rained down on them, but brought about no grievous injuries. 

Katara stared at her hands, eyes wide and frowning, “I… I didn’t do that…”

“No…” said the fire princess, “You didn’t. I think that would have been my brother.”

Sokka and Katara both turned to stare at Zuko who was also staring at his hands. Only, he wasn’t staring at them as if wondering, _‘I know I didn’t do that, so where did that come from,’_ Like Katara had been. 

No, instead he looked more like he was thinking, _‘What the actual fuck just happened, how did I do that?’_

He dropped his hands and looked up, glancing wildly between the four of them, seeking some sort of assurance. 

But the Water Tribe siblings could only stare, and his brat sister only quirked an eyebrow. 

Sokka thought they were all just going to continue in the oppressive silence like that until they all froze to death, or until the fire navy that he was sure was coming eventually arrived. But then Aang spoke up, and Sokka felt his world fall apart. 

“Wow, Zuko, looks like you’re gonna be good at this Avatar thing after all!” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> local fire hazard nearly kills 12 year old (again)

There was something wrong going on there, it didn't take a genius to figure out. 

Of course, things had been going wrong ever since the war meeting that he and Azula had snuck into a few days earlier, but something about the Water Tribe siblings was off... 

No, they weren't being suspicious. But the way they watched him and Azula with wary eyes did not sit right with him. 

Fine, Azula had given them more than enough reason to be cautious of her, what with threatening Aang's death. But the way they looked as if their entire world had given way beneath their feet when Aang mentioned that Zuko was the avatar made Zuko's heart drop.

Azula and Aang noticed too. 

Aang glanced between the two Water Tribe siblings with his brows drawn and a frown. 

"I-I don't get it," He said, "What's going on here? Why do you look like that?"

The siblings looked at each other but said nothing, and Zuko spared a glance at his own sister.

Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the brother and sister. Her gaze was calculating, like she was trying to put together the same puzzle that he was. 

"Out of curiosity," She said, "Do you happen to know who the current Fire Lord is?"

The girl scowled at her. 

"Azulon has been ordering attacks on our people for years," She snapped, "Of course we know who he is." 

Azula cast an uncertain glance at Zuko, who swallowed hard.

"Um." He said, "And before him?"

"What-- Why?" Said the boy, pointing his spear at him, "What's your game?"

"Can you maybe just tell us?" Said Aang, "We really don't know."

There was a beat of silence, and then the girl answered. 

"It was Sozin," She said, "But-- Shouldn't _you_ know that?" 

"Shouldn't _they_ know that?" the boy interrupted, gesturing between Zuko and Azula, "You two are literally royalty."

They ignored him.

Azula turned to Zuko, and he met her eyes, swallowing hard.

"Father started that war he wanted," Azula said, darkly.

Zuko nodded slowly, trying to control his emotions despite the panic growing in him with every passing second.

"And we've been in that iceberg for a lot longer than a couple days," he concluded.

"Wait," Said the boy, "Firelord Sozin was your father? That's not possible, he died like 50 years ago." 

Zuko felt the color drain from his face, and felt like he had to sit down. He watched Aang stumble back in surprise, and even Azula looked distressed.

"50 years?!" Aang exclaimed, "No-no, that can't be right."

Azula stepped up to the Water Tribe boy and grabbed him by the front of his parka, ignoring his sister's protest.

"Peasant," She said, "How long has this war been going on?"

"What? A-a hundred years," Said the boy, stumbling on the words as he worked to free himself from her grasp, "Let me go!"

Zuko's legs gave out beneath him at the news, and he stumbled to the ground. 

Azula released her grip on the Water Tribe kid, and her features contorted into an expression of murderous rage. She spun quickly on her heel towards Aang, and Zuko tried calling out for her to stop as she called upon her flames, but he knew it was no use trying to calm her fury.

"A hundred years?" She seethed, "I've been in that fucking iceberg for a hundred years?!" 

She threw the flames at Aang, who jumped high in the air to avoid being burnt. 

"Zuko, help," He said, landing behind him, "She might actually kill me."

Azula stalked up to the two of them, pushing past the siblings who had devolved into an argument of their own.

"Zuzu," Said Azula, "Surrender the Airbender, and I won't have to be the second family member to burn you."

Zuko scowled at the comment, but had to ignore it. 

"Come on Azula, it's not his fault." 

"Yeah, technically it's Zuko's fault too!" 

Zuko whipped his head around to glare at Aang, and called upon his own fire to his finger tips. 

Aang stumbled away from the flame and grinned at Zuko sheepishly.

Azula rolled her eyes.

"You're both to blame" She hissed, "But I'm not going to harm my brother when he's already in such a pitiful state. You however," fire sprung to life from her palm, "Well, I couldn't care less."

Zuko scrambled to his feet, yelling for her to stop, but before he could do anything himself, Azula and her flames were doused in water.

"That's enough!"

The water tribe girl stormed towards the three of them, and shoved Azula away from Aang. 

Zuko inhaled sharply as he watched the scene unfold. He admired the girl's courage for standing up to Azula for the second time that day, but he also knew that she was getting in _way_ over her head by confronting someone like his sister.

Zuko crept up behind Azula, and against his own sense of self-preservation, he put a placating hand on her shoulder. 

He risked a glance at Azula's face and knew that the chances of an actual fight breaking were very likely.

She was looking at the Water Tribe girl in the same way she did her fire bending tutors when sizing them up and poised to attack. 

"Um, Azula…" He said, drawing her attention, "Maybe you should dry off… You'll freeze if you don't."

Azula glared at him and grabbed his wrist, heating her hand up just enough to burn. Zuko hissed and pulled his hand away.

"Keep your hands off me, and that won't happen" She snapped, "I'm done with you all. I'll be with the bison." 

Zuko watched her stalk off, and waited till he could see the steam rising off from her body before he was satisfied that she wouldn't freeze to death. 

Then he turned back to Aang.

"Um. Sorry about Azula, she's just a little, uh, surprised… She gets testy, I think." 

"No shit," Said the Water Tribe boy.

The girl was staring at him.

"She burnt you." 

Zuko shrugged. "Fire benders don't really burn easily, she might as well have just slapped me."

"But still, that's not--'

"Are you really the avatar?"

Zuko looked wearily at the Water Tribe boy who had interrupted.

"Did you not just see me bend water?" 

The kid ignored him.

"And you and her," He gestured, in the direction of where Azula had stomped off to,"You're Fire Lord Sozin's children?" 

Zuko nodded. 

The boy threw his hands up in the air.

"Well, that's it. We're all doomed."

Zuko scowled. 

"What does that mean?"

The boy scoffed, "It means, you and your little sister are going to run back to the fire nation and try to use your little avatar powers to win this war for them. Well, good luck finding any water bender or earth bender to teach you, cause that's never gonna happen."

"What are you talking about?" Said Zuko, "Azula and I have been gone for a hundred years. I have yet to even see this war. Maybe I'll be against it."

The Water Tribe kid stopped dead in his tracks, and frowned. Clearly, he had never considered the possibility that Zuko might side with him.

The Water Tribe girl looked to Zuko with wide eyes. 

"Do you mean that?" She said hopefully, "Would you stop the war?"

Zuko blanched, "Woah, woah, woah," He said, "I-I never said that. I just meant that I wouldn't blindly support some war, but I can't just _end_ it. I'm 14, I only just learned I was the avatar a couple days ago." 

"Technically it was 100 years ago," Aang said helpfully. 

Zuko flicked sparks at him. 

The siblings recoiled at his open use of fire bending, and Zuko felt sick.

These two were afraid of fire bending. Not even real fire bending, _sparks_. What had the Fire Nation done to the world in the time that they'd been gone to make them so afraid? What was the extent of this war? 

Then he remembered listening, terrified, behind a curtain with Azula in the war room as they spied in on his father's war meeting.

What was it his father had said he planned to do? Share the fire nation's prosperity with the rest of the world? Had he succeeded? Is this what he had done?

Zuko felt dizzy. 

"I think," He said, grappling with the words "I need to uh--"

Zuko's vision swam. 

"Hey, are you okay?" 

He nodded, "Yeah, yeah... I'm fine," He said, "I just, I just gotta lie down real quick."

Zuko promptly passed out.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for how short this is, hopefully the chapters start picking up length after this.
> 
> next chapter they'll finally be off the stupid ice float and Zuko will get the medical attention that he needs.
> 
> if you've read the tags, you'll know that I really messed with the timeline in this fic, while more will be revealed later in the story, here's a rough time line
> 
> 14 bg - zuko is born  
> 12 bg - azula and aang are born  
> 0 bg - azula, aang, and zuko are frozen in the ice and sozin starts the war  
> 10 ag - fire lord azulon is born  
> 50 ag - sozin dies ahaha burn in hell  
> 99 ag- sokka and Katara find zuko, azula, and aang
> 
> thanks for reading, if you liked this chapter, consider leaving a review, it gives me ✨motivation✨


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> fire child angers every one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i ended up having to delete tiktok until i could get this chapter done to get rid of distractions. it took some effort, but here it is :)

Katara had never imagined that she would one day cradle a passed out fire prince in her lap while a top a ten ton flying bison, but she supposed that stranger things had…

...not happened. 

Yeah, this entire day was probably the weirdest day she'd ever experienced in her 14 years of life. 

Sokka had been stuck to her side since Aang had fallen out of the iceberg, and though Katara often found Sokka to be overbearing and far too over protective, under their current circumstances, she understood and tried taking it in stride. After all, Katara felt equally as protective towards him. She supposed it was a sibling thing--

_She glanced at Azula._

\--Or at least a _functional_ sibling thing.

Katara didn't think the Fire Nation siblings had ever been acquainted with the concept. 

Azula had taken one look at her brother's prone form and scoffed. She left him in the hands of strangers, and then went to sit at the front of the saddle where she berated Aang for having a 'flying' bison who wouldn't actually do any flying. 

"Hey," Sokka said, poking Zuko with the blunt end of his spear, "Is he still alive?"

Katara slapped the spear away.

"Would you cut that out?" She snapped, "He's already sick, he doesn't need you bothering him with sticks."

"Whatever," He said, "I'm just glad he's passed out so he can't firebend at us. It's bad enough with Her Royal Bratty-ness over there."

Katara rolled her eyes but silently agreed.

"Are you sure about bringing these three back to the village?" Sokka asked, glancing at Azula and Aang who were bickering in the front.

Katara shook her head.

"Well, no..." She said, "But that doesn't matter. This kid is the avatar and he needs medical attention."

"Right," Sokka said, crossing his arms, "But he's also the son of Fire Lord Sozin… And the current Fire Lord's older brother. Or would he be his younger brother..? How's it work if Azulon is like 90 but this kid was born first?" 

Katara snorted, "I really don't think that's that important right now."

Sokka shrugged.

"So what do you think happened to him?" He said, looking at the boy's eye. 

She looked down at the boy who was passed out on her lap, and frowned.

"I don't know," She said, "But clearly he didn't get any proper recovery before any of this happened."

She placed a hand to his forehead and grimaced before quickly pulling her hand away.

"What?" Sokka said, noticing the look on her face, "What's wrong?"

Katara shook her head.

"He's-- He's way too warm," She said. 

Sokka frowned and scratched at his head, not caring at all. 

"What if he dies?" Katara hissed, "The avatar is the only hope we have for ending this war, and I don't think we'd last another 16 years if we had to wait for the next one." 

"He's not going to die." Came a scathing voice from beside Sokka. 

Sokka yelped and jumped in his seat at Azula's intrusion. 

"He's probably not even that warm," Azula said, "Hand him over."

Katara stared warily at the other girl. She didn't trust her around herself or Sokka, and she was having a hard time trusting her with her own brother. 

Her mind wandered back to the ice float where the fire princess had burnt her brother just for touching her. 

Fire was destruction and it was death, and still the girl had used it against her own blood. Her brother, who had very clearly been recently hurt by fire. 

Sokka could bother her to no ends sometimes, but she could never bring herself to hurt him like that. The thought alone made her feel sick. 

But Azula was watching her with a cool gaze that just begged for Katara to argue, and she knew that the princess wouldn't just allow her to refuse, so carefully, she handed the boy to his sister. 

When situated, Azula pressed her hand against the boy's forehead and nodded. 

"He's feverish," She announced, "But you needn't be so dramatic. Fire benders run hot. He should be fine." 

"These bandages need to be changed though," She said, scrunching her nose in disgust. 

"Air bender," She called, "Did you or my idiot brother think to bring any extra bandages with you when leaving the palace?"

Aang turned to face Azula and smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. 

"Um, no…" He said, "We left so fast we didn't really have time to grab anything."

"You brought nothing." 

"Heh. Um. Yeah." 

Azula narrowed her eyes and shook her head at him. 

"Count every blessing that you have, and pray that I don't shoot lightning at you." 

Aang scowled, "You can't lightning bend!"

The fire princess shrugged, "Maybe I can, maybe I can't. Do you want to find out?" 

Under no circumstances did Katara want to find out. She glanced frantically between the two, and rushed to de-escalate.

"Hey, Azula," She said, "You know, we actually have the supplies at our village to help your brother, so if you could just not shoot any lightning, I think we'd all really appreciate it." 

Azula glared at her but backed off and Katara felt herself relax. 

"Speaking of the village," Piped Sokka, "You're gonna have to ditch the crown before we get there."

"Excuse me?" Azula said, scowling.

But Sokka didn't budge.

"It's bad enough bringing two fire benders to our home," He said, "If people knew you two are Fire Nation royalty it would cause panic. So lose the crown." 

Azula stared Sokka down for a long moment before taking a calming breath which left as fire through her nose.

Sokka and Katara jerked backwards, but the girl made no move to attack. She reached up for her top knot and removed the crown. 

She held the head piece in her hand, and though Katara had yet to see the girl express any emotion other than rage and indifference, she thought the blank face on Azula looked rather forlorn. 

She pocketed the head piece just as Aang jumped into the saddle to announce their arrival at the village. 

Katara risked a glance at Sokka who had again taken up his spear and gripped to it like a lifeline. 

She sighed deeply and ran a hand down her face. She had never been so relieved and yet stressed about being home. 

She wished that they could have just walked away from the three other children. If they had had the means to, maybe they would have. The three had Appa, and the firebender’s fire. They would have been fine. 

But that would have been wrong. They were kids, just like she and Sokka. And one of them was the avatar, who was hurt, and needed help. This was the right thing to do, she knew this...

She just hoped that doing the right thing wouldn't get them burnt.

\--

  
  


Azula leaned with her back to the igloo where this dingy village’s healer was treating her brother. She watched the people who milled about her, and tried not to roll her eyes when they looked in her direction with subtly worse than that of the air bender. 

Azula thrived off of the intimidation that other’s held towards her. Commanding the respect and rightful fear of others was something she excelled in. It was all very much like a game to her, a game that she thoroughly enjoyed winning, but…

But. 

She did not appreciate the wary looks given to her by the Southern Water Tribe. 

Not because of any hurt feelings of course, she was above that. 

It was that they looked at Zuko the same way. 

_Zuko._

Zuko, who was currently ill. Zuko, who spent his free time feeding turtle ducks. Zuko, who was soft. 

She wasn’t a fool. She knew it was because of their status as Fire Nation. She hadn’t been out of the ice for very long, and because of her brother and his little air bender friend, she’d been out of the loop for one hundred years. But Azula was sharp, and she knew that the Fire Nation had undergone some drastic changes in the time that she had been gone. 

And now being Fire Nation made her a threat. 

_How rude,_ she thought. She was a perfectly capable threat _all_ on her own merit. 

Azula wanted out of this village as soon as possible. And she wanted to politely inform the next person to look at her funny that they needn’t watch her like she was a lit match. Nothing here was worth her flames. 

Of course, if she said this, Katara might lecture her about being insensitive again. Azula decidedly did not need to hear any of that again any time soon. 

She’d heard enough _“Be a good person,”_ and _“Practice some sympathy,”_ lectures from Roku growing up before he and her father had their falling out.

“Your brother is doing a lot better.” 

_Ah._ Speak of the peasant. 

The water bender ducked out of the igloo that she had been leaning on, and walked over to stand near Azula while still maintaining a healthy distance. 

In the few days since they had arrived at the village, the water bending girl, Katara, had seemed to warm up just a little to her and her brother. Well, she had warmed up to _Zuko_ , who she had helped in caring for. No one, save for the air bender and her brother when he was well enough, had really tried talking to her. 

But she was fine with that. She was more than content standing post. 

“You know,” Said the girl, “Zuko will be ready to travel soon.”

Azula quirked an eyebrow, “Oh?” She said, not missing the girl’s subtle message. She wanted them gone. 

“Yep.” She said, bobbing on her feet, “What’re you guys going to do once you leave?” 

Azula picked at her nails.

“As for my brother and his air bender friend, I don’t know. They’ll probably go off to learn the four elements.” 

“And you?” 

Azula frowned, “I’ll be going back to the Fire Nation, of course.” 

Katara’s eyes widened, “What? Why?” 

“Because I live there, and I’m a fire bender. Are you stupid?”

“But you’ve been gone for a hundred years, what are you going to do? Just walk up to the Fire Nation Palace and demand that they let you in?” 

Azula shrugged, “You’ll find that I have a way with people. A hundred years or not, I’m still the princess.”

Azula wasn’t stupid. She knew it wouldn’t be as easy as just going back to the Fire Nation, announcing her return, and settling in as princess as though nothing had ever happened. Leadership would be called into question, because technically, Azula did have a claim to the throne, and that would likely result in internal conflict. And then even if the Fire Nation accepted her easily, she would have to worry about meeting a tragic and untimely end, as she was _sure_ both Azulon and his heirs would see her as a threat to their throne. 

Returning to the Fire Nation was a task that would take plenty of planning, and it would require her to always stay two steps ahead. It wouldn’t be easy…

But it would still beat traveling with her dum-dum brother and the stupid air bender. 

“What about the war?” Asked Katara. 

“The war doesn’t concern me,” Said Azula, “Not yet at least. I suppose I’ll have to handle one thing at a time.” 

Katara fumed next to her and kicked up snow. 

“Typical,” she spat, “You fire benders might not _all_ be evil, but you’re all complacent! Complacent in every way.”

Azula stared at the girl in silence for a moment before shrugging and turning away. 

“You may think that,” She sniffed, and then walked away; Katara left behind to brood in her wake. 

\-- 

Zuko looked like a kicked rabbit dog when she told him that he and Aang could drop her off in the Fire Nation, and she wasn’t sure why. They hadn’t gotten along in years, she didn’t know why he expected that to change now, but she supposed he was soft like that.

“I’m not your friend, Zuko,” She snapped, and she watched her brother deflate. 

Sokka, who had been helping them to load up Appa, presumably so that they would leave the village sooner, snorted. 

  
Azula peered at him.

“Do you have something you’d like to say to me, Water Tribe?”

Sokka laughed rudely. “Nothing, nothing,” He said, “I just think your _‘I hate my brother’_ act would be a lot more believable if you hadn’t just spent the last four days posted outside his door.” 

“And I think your pitiful attempt at filling your father’s role in this tribe would see much more success if your sister or anyone else in this village actually took you seriously.” 

Sokka’s eyes widened and his lips twisted into an unhappy scowl. 

“Wha- What? You don’t know anything about me, or my father!” 

Azula crossed her arms. “A good leader is perceptive and knows her enemies. I know plenty about you.” 

“Azula, that’s enough,” Zuko said, just as a new voice said,

“Sokka, are you antagonizing this young lady again?” 

The three of them turned to see Katara and Aang approaching with Sokka and Katara’s grandmother. 

Sokka scoffed, “Me antagonize her?! Gran Gran, all she’s done since I’ve met her is antagonize people.” 

Azula watched this interaction, and then feigned innocence when the old woman turned her attention on her. She had done this act plenty of times with Zuko throughout their childhood with varying degrees of success. She hadn’t always gotten herself off the hook, but the act had always gotten a rise out of Zuko, and she was happy to do the same to the Water Tribe peasant. 

Their grandmother gave her a knowing look, and said, “Well, I’m sure that’s not true.” 

Azula smiled sweetly, and Sokka sputtered, causing the rest of the group to laugh at his expense.

When Sokka calmed, he glanced at Katara and frowned. 

“Wait-- Katara, why do you have those bags?” 

Azula, Sokka, and Zuko turned to look at Katara, who had two bags slung over her shoulder. Katara had a guilty smile on her face as she explained to her brother that she would be accompanying Aang and Zuko on their trip.

“What?!” Sokka screeched, and turned to his grandmother “You’re just going to let her go?” 

The old woman placed a placating hand on Sokka’s shoulder and gave him a calming smile. 

“Sokka, the young avatar will have to stop at the Northern Water Tribe to learn water bending, and when he does, your sister will have the chance to train with a master. I know how important this is to Katara, and so do you.” 

Sokka looked helpless as he glanced between Katara, his grandmother and the rest of the group, and Azula felt something twist in her stomach as she realized that it wasn’t jealousy for his sister leaving, but concern. Azula frowned and was quick to stomp the feeling down. 

She risked a glance at her own brother and saw him staring at her. 

She huffed and crossed her arms, angling herself away from him. 

“Fine then,” Sokka declared, “If you’re going, then I am too.” 

Katara’s eyes lit up and she threw her arms around her brother, babbling her excitement. 

Azula turned away. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uh oh azula is starting to realize that she has feelings just like the rest of us, rip girl
> 
> azula could definitely worm her way back into the royal family, but will she? :) 
> 
> there wasn't much Zuko or Aang in this chapter but there will be more of them in the next chapter but Aang will be going through it, so :/ 
> 
> if you like this and want to see more of this make sure you leave a comment because it gives me motivation


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> idiot siblings don't know how to be siblings but they're working on it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is chapter four of twenty
> 
> 4/20
> 
> :)

Aang was a little bit ditzy. Zuko was pretty sure he’d gathered as much before any of this had happened. Back when Aang was just some kid who’d he’d crossed paths with in dreams that he hadn’t even been sure were real. So Zuko couldn’t really say he was surprised when the child pulled out a map and pointed out a dozen places all scattered around the world that he wanted to stop at. 

He couldn't really say that he minded, either. He needed to learn air bending, and if his air bending teacher wanted to travel to all these bizarre places, it didn't really matter to him, so long as they practiced as they went.

He was only worried about how Azula was holding up. 

Aang had insisted on seeing the Southern Air Temple before taking his sister back to the Fire Nation, and last night, when they had made camp, their camp fire burnt just a little too hot. 

The other's hadn't noticed, but Zuko had. The flames had fed off of Azula's thinly veiled rage almost all night. 

Zuko wished she wouldn't leave. They'd replaced friendship with rivalry a long time ago, but now one hundred years had passed and everyone they knew would have been gone. Azula was all he had left. 

Well. Her and Aang. 

But that was different, and he knew Aang felt the same way. 

"Wait till you see it Katara!" Aang babbled, "The Air Temple is one of the most beautiful places in the world."

He felt Sokka fidget next to him as the three of them listened in on Aang and Katara's conversation.

"Sokka..." Zuko said, breaching the subject, "Why are you and Katara being so weird around Aang? What… What happened to the Air Nomads?" 

Sokka glared at him with a sharp look in his eye. Zuko barely repressed a wince, and Sokka looked away. 

The boy sighed deeply and ran a hand down his face before turning back to answer Zuko.

"The Fire Nation happened," He muttered in a low voice, casting a glance towards the bison's head where Aang was steering before continuing. 

"Fire Lord Sozin, your _father_ ," He spat, "Attacked the Air Nomads one hundred years ago and killed them all. Aang's the first Air Bender anyone's seen in a hundred years." 

Zuko scowled. "That's-- That's terrible," He said, "And you guys are just letting him fly in there without telling him first?"

"Katara's talking to him now!" 

Azula sat up straight in her seat where she sat on Zuko's other side.

"No," She said, "She's coddling him. Do you think holding his hand through this is going to save him from the truth?"

Sokka shook his head. "Look, I agree, okay? But Katara thinks we should be tactful, and I'm not going to let you upset my sister just because Daddy raised a sociopath." 

"Azula's not a sociopath," Zuko hissed. 

Sokka shrugged, "Whatever you say, princy."

Zuko seethed, and was considering lunging at the boy just as Appa began a quick and steep upward ascent, and the three of them had to scramble to find purchase on the saddle.

"Oh spirits," Sokka yelped, "I don't like this!" 

Zuko would have laughed at the boy's expense if it weren't for the fear that he'd lose his breakfast if he opened his mouth. 

Then, thank Agni, Appa's flying evened out, and, into view came the Southern Air Temple. 

The temple was beautiful. Unlike anything Zuko had ever seen before. He looked on at the sight and wondered how _anyone_ could have attacked such a place. 

He heard Aang tell Appa that they were home, and he wished that the Water Tribe siblings were wrong about it all. 

He thought about his father ordering the attacks, and he thought about his face. He reached up to touch his still fresh wound. 

He knew they weren't wrong. 

\--

Azula trailed after her brother who was busy moping around the Air Temple. 

While she had thoroughly enjoyed watching the Water Tribe peasant fail miserably at the air ball game, Zuko had stomped off when the Fire Nation helmet had been discovered, and Azula thought it best to follow him to assure that he did nothing stupid. 

"I can't believe this," Zuko said, kicking a wall, "How could the Fire Nation do something like this?" 

Azula shrugged, "Nations fight all the time. You think you'd know that. You being the Avatar and all. Isn't it your job to stop these things?"

Zuko turned on her, eyes blazing and fists clenched tight. Azula rolled her eyes.

"Calm down, Zuzu. I was only teasing. I know you were against Father's plan, and I know where it got you." 

She looked pointedly at Zuko's bandaged eye. Zuko avoided her glance and turned away. 

They walked some more before Zuko stopped at a door and said, "What do you think is in all these rooms?" 

"How should I know?" She said, "The doors have handles don't they?" 

Zuko paused to consider this, and shrugged before trying the handle on the door before them.

The door opened easily, and Azula almost wished it hadn't. 

The room's floor was covered in burnt remains of both monks and Fire Nation soldiers. She heard Zuko gag right before he threw up on the floor. 

Azula scrunched her nose and quickly moved away from her brother.

She ventured further into the room, and looking around, she felt her own stomach grow uneasy. 

An uncomfortable feeling washed over her, and her head ached. 

She nudged the bones of a Fire Nation soldier with her foot and frowned.

"Well this excessive…" She said.

Zuko's voice was thick as he spoke. 

"The air benders," he said, "Weren't they-- weren't they pacifists?"

Azula nodded. Everybody knew the air benders were pacifists. Her father had said it made them weak. 

Zuko paled and Azula was afraid that he might vomit again.

She grabbed his arm, pulling him towards the exit. 

"Come on," She said, "I don't want you throwing up some more. That's seriously disgusting." 

They'd closed the door behind them, but as Azula walked away, she saw Zuko pause.

"What are you doing?" She said, watching as her brother produced a flame and held it towards the door's metal hinges.

Zuko shook his head. 

"The others can't see this, so I'm welding the door shut."

Azula rolled her eyes, and pushed her brother to the side.

"Move then." She said, "It'll take forever if it's just you."

The work was faster between the two of them, and within a couple minutes, the smell of melted metal filled the air.

Zuko stepped back when he was done, but Azula held her fire a little longer for good measure. 

She heard Zuko gasp.

"Azula, your fire!" 

She glanced down and inhaled sharply. Wisps of blue flame were beginning to leak into the more abundant orange flames.

She pulled her fire away from the door and held it out towards Zuko for him to see. 

Zuko looked at her flames with awe, and for a moment, Azula was thrown back into their childhood when she had first started fire bending. Back before they were pit against each other, and Zuko was proud rather than jealous of her when she learned a new fire bending technique. 

She shook her head at the thought, and diverted her attention back to the flame. Giving it more power and grinning when the blue flames grew.

"You've got blue fire, Lala." Said Zuko.

Azula extinguished the flame and scowled.

"Don't call me that," She snapped. 

"You can call me Zuzu but I can't call you Lala?" 

Azula stuck her nose up. 

"A silly name is fitting for you," She said, "Not for me. I'm better than such things."

Zuko scowled and the bonding moment was over. 

\--

Zuko was hesitant about opening a door to another room after what he'd found in the room before. But the lock on the door _was_ impressive, and he could hope that no fire benders would have managed to break through there. 

"This door can only be unlocked with air bending," Aang said, "Only the Elders and the Avatar are supposed to go in, but I'm sure we can make an exception, right Zuko?"

Zuko scratched his head.

"Uh. I guess?"

"Great! So try opening the door," Aang chirped. 

Zuko floundered, "But I don't know how."

"That's okay," Aang said, "Consider it your first lesson!" 

Zuko frowned. He didn't like the idea of his first lesson in air bending being so _public_. Zuko hadn't had the same natural talent as Azula had for fire bending. He'd had to work especially hard to get to where he was currently with his bending. He could only imagine that he'd be just as bad at air bending starting out as he had been fire bending. He didn't need to give Azula another reason to make fun of him. 

If Aang noticed his hesitance, he didn't acknowledge it, instead diving head first into his explanation.

"Air bending is about freedom and flexibility," He said, "It's about finding the path with least resistance. Visualize your chi flowing out from you and turning into air. Once you've done this, try pushing it forwards." 

Zuko tried this, and was pleased when he managed to create a small gust of wind. He was less pleased when he realized he hadn't made the door budge even just a little.

"Great try!" Aang said, clapping Zuko on the shoulder, "Now watch me." 

The door opened easily for Aang, and Zuko made it a point to watch his every move carefully. If he wanted to master the elements, he would have to be constantly watching and learning.

"Ugh." Azula sneered, "Statues? I was hoping they'd actually keep something interesting behind a lock like that." 

"I don't know…" Zuko said, stepping up to a statue of a fire bender, "I feel like I know these people. And look, it's a fire bender."

"Fire bending." Sokka muttered, coming up next to him,"Gross. More like, uh... Jerk bending." 

Zuko politely walked away from him. 

"These statues follow the avatar cycle," Said Katara, "All these people are the past avatars."

"That means these are all Zuko's past lives," Aang said. He stopped in front of an air bender and waved. "Hi Zuko!" 

Zuko ignored him too and walked until he found the last statue in line. He stopped in front of the statue and the overwhelming sense of familiarity washed over him.

"Woah…" Aang said, "Whose that?"

Zuko glanced to his side to find that the other four had caught up to him. 

"That's Avatar Kyoshi," Said Zuko, "She was the earth bending avatar before me, but her mother was an air bender like you. That's where she got her fans."

"She also lived for an exceedingly long time," Azula interrupted, "The reason Father didn't start his plan sooner was because he was waiting for her to die and she just wouldn't. I didn't know that bit about the fans though, so how did _you?_ "

Zuko frowned. "I...I don't know, I kinda just _knew_."

Sokka clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Well Zuko, you and your sister never fail to get weirder. I--" 

A strange noise came from outside the door and Sokka shrieked. 

"What was that?"

The five of them waited with bated breath as they watched the shadows shift and grow as the noise approached, and then Aang screamed.

"Lemur!" 

Just at the same time that Sokka shouted, "Dinner!" 

The two raced off in pursuit of the animal, leaving Zuko alone with Katara and Azula. 

"Um." Said Zuko, "Should we follow them?" 

Katara stared after the two and nodded. "It'd probably be for the best." 

\--

Aang was crying when they caught up to him, and for a moment, Zuko was genuinely worried that Sokka had actually gone through with making the lemur dinner. 

A wave of nausea rolled over him when he spotted the skeletons and realized that hadn't been the case.

"What… What happened." 

Sokka looked grim.

"He found his old mentor." 

Zuko remembered Gyatso. He hadn't met him, but he remembered how Aang talked about him the few times they met before any of this. He'd talked about him like a father. 

_"I can't wait for you to meet him, Zuko!"_ Aang had said when they had run from the palace that night.

Before Azula had caught up to them,

Before the storm,

Before this war. 

"Oh." Zuko breathed.

His fists clenched.

_"Oh."_

He felt the nausea from before disappear as anger settled like dust in its place. 

This wasn't right.

None of this was right.

He thought about his father and he wanted to scream as it all clicked.

His father had done this. 

In his absence, his father had waged war, and he had killed innocent people.

Even after Zuko had spoken out and he'd burnt his face. 

His father had done this.

His father had hurt his friend, and now his friend was crying over his dead mentor, and Zuko felt fury creep deep into his bones.

It burned like fire in his veins that threatened to consume him and leave nothing but ash. 

His world fell away from beneath him, and as he succumbed to the white nothing he felt himself come alive with raw power. 

And Zuko raged.

\--

Azula felt the flames before she saw them, and by the time she turned around to face her brother, she'd hardly had the time to shield herself and the others from the onslaught of flames sent in every direction from her brother.

Her brother, whose eyes were glowing white, and was beginning to float off the ground. 

_Oh, Agni,_ she thought, blocking another wave of fire. She _so_ hadn't signed up for this.

"You have to do something!" The Water Tribe girl yelled, "He's going to blow this whole place off the mountain top!" 

Azula scowled as she stumbled backwards. 

"What do you want me to do?" She hissed, "I'm _already_ playing defense. I can't protect the lot of you and fight my brother at the same time!" 

_"No!"_ Katara yelled, "I didn't mean to _fight_ him, I meant talk to him." 

"What? I can't just--" 

Another wave of fire, this time accompanied by a blast of wind, knocked her back and she very nearly stumbled to the floor.

"Ugh!" 

Katara was right, if they didn't do anything soon this whole temple would come down under the Avatar's wrath, and as skilled a bender she might be, she didn't think she had it in her to take on the Avatar State. Not yet at least.

The only way out of this was by talking Zuko down. 

Azula glanced back at the others and ushered them back before lighting a ring of fire around the three other children that she _hoped_ would protect them. 

If it didn't. Well. 

They'd get to that.

She parted the flames and stepped out of the ring, leaving the others behind. 

She approached Zuko slowly, but without the other three to worry about, blocking her brother's flames was a great deal easier. 

"Zuko," She shouted, "You have to stop!"

"You were right, okay? This is-- This is wrong. All of this. This war shouldn't have happened, I didn't care before, but I see it now." 

"What happened to your friend, and his mentor? That-- That was bad. Even I know that."

Azula cursed herself and the water bender. If it wasn't to taunt him, she didn't know how to talk to her brother, how was she supposed to talk him out of the Avatar State?

"Look-- We can make this right. We can avenge all these people, you and me. I won't even go back to the Fire Nation." 

She must have said something right there, because she could see and hear his intensity fade. 

"You just have to snap out of it so that you don't kill all of us!"

The fires died along with the wind, and Zuko's eyes were gold again. 

Azula sighed and extinguished her own fire.

"Do you mean that?" Zuko said, "You'll stay with us?"

Azula rolled her eyes, "Yes dum-dum. If that's what it takes to make sure you don't go insane again. I suppose I'll stick around." 

Zuko cracked a grin and Azula wanted to take it all back. 

"Good…" He said, "That's good."

He swayed on his feet, and she realized he was going to collapse the second before he did. 

Her body rushed to catch him before her brain caught up with her. 

"Oh, well would you look at that." 

Azula glanced to the side. Katara was leading Aang out of the room, but the idiot Water Tribe boy had stayed behind and was staring at Azula smugly.

"I guess she does care." 

Azula glanced down and it occurred to her that she was holding her brother. 

She gagged, and promptly dropped him to the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> zuko: *anger noises*  
> zuko: *avatar state*
> 
> hi I was a little unsure about this chapter, but at the same time I feel unsure about every chapter I write until my friend validates me and tells me it's fine. but he went to sleep and I wanted to post this asap since I was supposed to update it yesterday. so ahh. 
> 
> I'm trying not to just rewrite canon, but they will be at kyoshi island next chapter, but it's like for plot reasons. I kinda need that chapter, but after that I'm going to try and not just recount their every adventure with zuko and Azula thrown in because that's not the move tbh. 
> 
> ozai and azulon will be introduced next chapter so be ready for that >:)
> 
> and also I'm wondering if I should give Zuko a dragon but idk lmk what you guys think
> 
> thx for reading!! 💕💕


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> azula and katara team up with the kyoshi warriors to beat the ~misogyny~ out of Sokka
> 
> aang joins a clique 
> 
> zuko is angsty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> got dam this chapter was hard to write. like holy fuck.

Azula found herself regretting her decision to accompany Zuko and his friends on their quest more and more with each passing day. 

She, a Fire Princess, did not belong in the sky.

She belonged on the ground, where she could firebend freely. Where she could meditate easily, not surrounded by loud and obnoxious children. 

The Water Tribe siblings sat on either end of the saddle, where the girl was mending a pair of pants, while the boy was lounging quietly.

Her brother and the air bender were both sitting at the reigns, where Aang was loudly trying to convince Zuko that his stupid marble trick was an important air bending technique that was totally crucial to learn. 

Zuko, of course, was not buying it, nor were any of the others. 

Then there was Azula, who sat cross legged at the saddles side, cradling a flame, and meditating. 

Zuko and Aang were distracting, yes, but Azula was nothing if not focused, and she did her best to tune them out. 

That was until a marble hit her smack in the face. 

Azula's eyes snapped open, and the flame in her hand flared as she turned a glare on her brother. 

She heard Sokka laughing hysterically while Katara pressed a hand to her mouth to conceal her giggling. Azula was seriously considering burning them all. 

"Sorry Azula…" Zuko said with an annoying amount of sincerity.

Azula snorted and threw the marble that had hit her as far as possible off the bison. 

Zuko, having watched this, turned to Aang and this time without any sincerity said:

"Oops. Sorry. Looks like we'll have to put a hold on the marble trick." 

"That's okay," Aang said, grinning widely, "I have another set!" 

Azula growled. 

"If I get hit with another marble I will make you two a matching set." She made a flame in her hand and held it menacingly towards Aang to illustrate her point. 

Aang shrank backwards, and Zuko withered and touched a hand to his scar. 

Katara looked up from her sewing and frowned at her.

"Azula, that was mean."

Azula shrugged and examined her nails. 

"Whatever." 

The conversation lulled and Azula got the distinct impression that she hadn't just done herself any favors in winning any of them over. 

Azula shrugged to herself. Whatever. She'd agreed to stick around. She never agreed to getting along. 

She returned to her meditation, and enjoyed a brief moment of silence before Aang was trying to show off again.

"You gotta leave her alone, Air head," Said Sokka, "Girls need space when they're doing their sewing."

Azula scowled. She didn't see what gender had to do with sewing of all things, but she left the idiot alone. Since leaving the Southern Air Temple, she'd been trying to perfect her blue flame. She would not see any progress if she let some peasant's sexist squabbling distract her.

But then he kept talking, and Azula felt her rage flare violently. Did he dare imply that her gender made her less of a fighter? Less of a threat? 

Azula breathed in deeply and then breathed out, steeling herself. She wouldn't lose her temper like a child over his foolish ideologies. 

She could, however, teach him a lesson. 

She yanked his still ripped pants from his grasp, and then burnt them to ash. 

Sokka sputtered. "Wha- Tui and La, I was kidding!-- Ugh-- Azula!" 

Azula shrugged and smiled sweetly. 

"Jokes are meant to be funny." 

\--

Azula had been half way through a kata when she heard Zuko swear followed by a thud as he kicked a tree. 

Azula turned to him, smirking.

"Now Zuzu, I don't think abusing the trees is going to help you with whatever air bending technique you're stuck on."

Zuko huffed.

"How can they both just stand there while Aang wastes time playing in the water?" He complained, "We haven't practiced at all today, and I'm still not getting any better."

"Not true," Azula said, "Today you learned that marble trick. Huge fan, by the way, I especially liked the part where you lost control and sent them all flying." 

"Whatever." Zuko muttered, "It's a stupid trick anyways." 

"Is it stupid or are you just bad at it?" 

Zuko glared at her and stormed off. Azula shrugged and turned back to her practice, but it wasn't more than a minute or two later before he came rushing back. 

Azula turned to him and quirked an eyebrow, "What's wrong with you?" 

"Um. The others are gone." 

"What do you mean they're gone?" 

Zuko curled his fists, "They're just-- They're gone. I think someone took them."

Well. That wasn't good. She really could care less about the Water Tribe children, but if someone had taken her stupid brother's air bending teacher she knew he would never stop whining about it. 

Azula pushed past her brother down the path. She stopped when she came across the footprints and frowned. 

"You didn't bother to mention all this?" 

"I told you I thought someone had taken them. What more do you want?" 

Azula rolled her eyes. 

"The tracks go this way," Zuko observed, "If we follow them we might find the others." 

"And when we do?" She asked, "What do you plan to do then?" 

Zuko rubbed the back of his head, "I don't know… Fight them?" 

Azula brought a hand to her hip. 

"Fight them." She dead panned. 

"...Yes?" 

Azula resisted the urge to facepalm. 

"Agni, help us," She said, "This is the Avatar we're given?" 

Zuko threw his hands up, "Do you have a better plan?"

Azula shrugged.

"Sure," She said, "We follow the tracks now, and find where they go. Wait till nightfall, staking out the place as we wait. Then sneak in unnoticed, find your friends, and get out." 

"That will take too long!" He said, "What if they need us now? Two master fire benders? We could take them, so long as we cover for each other." 

Azula snorted. "You're barely a master, Zuko," She said, "And trust me, it won't be us covering each other, it will be _me_ covering _you_." 

\--

"Hey! There he is now, he's the Avatar, I told you I knew Kyoshi!" 

Zuko flinched as Aang announced his presence and the group of warriors surrounding his friends spun on him. 

"Um. Hi." 

"Fire Nation!" Yelled one of the girls, pointing one of her fans at him, poised to attack. "You three _are_ Fire Nation spies." 

Azula, standing next to him, crossed her arms and sighed. 

"Those three as spies? Oh, give me a break." 

The warriors left their post surrounding their tied up prisoners to instead surround him and his sister. He watched Azula out of the corner of his eye as she shifted behind him so that they stood back to back, and he heard her summon a flame. Zuko himself crouched into a defensive position, and was about ready to start fire bending when he noticed the costumes. 

"Wait a minute," He said, "Is that-- Are you supposed to be Kyoshi..?"

As he should have expected, he was only met with stony silence from the warriors. 

And then Aang yelled, "They sure are! This island is named after Kyoshi!"

Zuko stood up straight and dropped his hands. 

"Huh." He said, and then nudged his sister with an elbow, "Azula, stand down a second."

"Are you stupid?" She hissed back. 

Zuko rolled his eyes and pushed her, causing her to stumble and break her root, extinguishing her flame. 

She recovered quickly, and turned him around to slap him. 

The group's leader raised an eyebrow.

"Are you two siblings?"

Zuko nodded, rubbing his face where Azula had slapped him.

"Unfortunately." He said, "And yes, we're from the Fire Nation, but we're not with them. I'm actually the Avatar." 

The leader shook her head.

"As I told your friends here," She said, gesturing to the others, "That's impossible. The last Avatar was born over 100 years ago, and if you believe the stories, he was the Fire Nation prince." 

"That's him, you barbarians," Said Azula. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her crown, "Is this proof enough for you?" 

One of the girls stepped forward to take it, but Azula held it from her quickly. 

"Nuh, uh, uh," She said, "Touch it and you die." 

The leader frowned deeply. 

"Well. You certainly act like a princess," She sneered.

She then turned to Zuko.

"What proof do you have that you're the Avatar?" 

"Oh! Oh!" Aang yelled, "He can do this really cool air bending trick with marbles. You should let him show you!" 

Zuko scowled. Not the fucking marble trick. Literally anything else. 

"Oh, I don't know," he said, "I--"

"--Let's see it then," Said the girl. 

"I actually don't have any marbles on me right now." 

"That's okay!" Aang cheered, "I've got some in my pocket!" 

Zuko groaned. 

One of the girls broke the circle to go retrieve the marbles from Aang and then handed them to Zuko when she returned. 

Zuko emptied the contents of the bag into his palm, and stared at the marbles with disdain. 

The leader gave him a pointed look and gestured for him to continue. 

“Well, go on then,” She said. 

Zuko groaned again, but he obliged. Out of principal, he did not like the trick because he thought it was stupid and a waste of time. His previous attempts had not seen a great amount of success, and Zuko just generally did not have an easy time with it. But, to his pleasant surprise, he was able to pull it off better than he had in the past. 

Murmuring broke out in the crowd, and Zuko was pleased that he had actually done something right. Maybe, the trick wasn’t as awful as he had thought--

He stuttered in his air bending, and one of the marbles went flying, catching Azula in the back of the head. 

“Oh, for the love of--” 

He was never touching a fucking marble again. 

\--

Since they had arrived at Kyoshi, the various members of the group had found their own ways to pass the time on the island. Katara had busied herself with preparing for their departure, while Aang ran off with his posse of fangirls. Sokka was busy getting the misogyny beat out of him, while Azula stood by and laughed as it happened. 

Zuko was spending his time staring at the Kyoshi statue and wallowing in his melancholy. 

How was he ever supposed to live up to Avatar Kyoshi? His father had put his plans for world domination on hold out of fear for the woman. Zuko had tried speaking out against his father’s wretched plan, and all he had gotten for his troubles was a giant scar. 

“Hey, Zuko, you mind giving me a hand?” 

Zuko turned to Katara who was struggling to carry a basket filled to the top with food. 

“Sure.” He said, getting up to help. He took some vegetables from the basket to lighten her load, and the two started walking. 

“Is Aang still with his fangirls?” He asked.

Katara nodded. 

“How does he do that?” 

“Do what?”

“I don’t know. Get everyone to like him? They’re obsessed-- And I don’t know, it’s weird. He’s not even the Avatar.”

Katara stifled a laugh.

“What?” He demanded. 

Katara gave him an incredulous look. “Zuko,” She said, “A girl startled you and you pulled fire on her. Another girl just wanted to _look_ at your sister’s head piece, and she threatened to burn down her family’s home. To other people, you guys are kind of intimidating.” 

They entered the room and Katara sat her basket down on the table. 

“Besides,” She said, “I wouldn’t let any of that get to me. They only like him because he’s showing off. You might be broody, and scary, and angsty, but at least you’re not a show off.” 

Zuko shrugged. 

“Well,” He said, “It’s not like I really have anything to show off with in the first place.”

Katara grinned at him. 

“Sure you do!” She said, “You’ve got that awesome marble trick!”

Zuko stormed out. 

\--

“Hi, Zuko!” 

Zuko looked up from where he was meditating to find Aang and his gaggle of children hovering over him and sighed. 

“Hi, Aang.” 

A few of the girls started giggling, and Zuko scowled at them. They stopped their giggling and they stared at him for a moment with wide eyes. They exchanged glances with each other and again, started laughing. Zuko felt his face heat up.

“The girls and I were wondering if you wanted to do some air bending practice.” 

Zuko frowned. “You and the girls..?” 

“Sure, why not!”

Zuko thought back to his fire bending lessons back at the palace. Zuko had never been a terrible bender, he just wasn’t a prodigy, and he’d had to work harder. He remembered how even when his fire bending had improved significantly, he would start tripping over his own feet whenever his father or his sister would come to watch his lessons. 

“I don’t know, Aang. That-- That doesn’t seem like a good idea.” 

“Aww,” Cooed one of the girls, “Look girls, he’s nervous!” 

Zuko growled, and stood up quickly. He glared at the girls and shot fire at their feet. 

The group collectively froze, and the girls blanched. There was a moment where no one said anything before the group scattered and girls went running in every direction. 

As one of them ran, he heard her yell, “The Avatar is mean!” 

Aang watched as they ran off and then turned to pout at him.

“That wasn’t very nice, Zuko.” 

Zuko seethed. 

“What isn’t nice is you trying to exploit my training to show off.” 

“Well, you didn’t have to scare them.” 

Zuko shook his head and threw himself back on the ground, reassuming his meditative stance. He closed his eyes and didn’t open them until he heard Aang walk off. 

\--

“Hey, buddy, you still staring at that statue?” 

Zuko turned to greet Sokka and his jaw dropped. 

The other boy was decked out in the full Kyoshi warrior uniform, make up and all. He couldn’t help but stare wide-eyed at the other boy, and wonder where they got a dress that fit Sokka’s frame in such a short amount of time. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Sokka said, “Laugh it up. La knows that your sister did.” 

Zuko cleared his throat.

“Uh. No,” He said, “I’m not-- I’m not laughing. I’m just-- surprised. Where did they get a dress that fit you so well?” 

Sokka grinned and struck a pose. “What? You think I look good?”

Zuko blushed. “No,” He said, “You look ridiculous. But like, a good ridiculous?” 

Sokka laughed and clapped a hand on his shoulder. 

“Thanks, dude. You’re a lot nicer than your sister.” 

Zuko smiled at him and returned his gaze to the statue. The two of them stood there in kind-of-kind-of-not awkward silence for a minute before Sokka started talking again.

"So what's the deal with you and the statue? It's nice that they repainted it and all, but you've been here almost all day."

Zuko shrugged. "I don't know," He said, "I guess I'm just worried about filling her shoes. I've never really been great at anything. I was a mediocre crown prince, and for the longest time, a mediocre fire bender. Then I find out I'm the Avatar and it's just-- a lot." 

"I kind of get how you feel," Said Sokka. "My dad is the chief of my village, and I always wanted to grow up to be just like him. When he and the rest of the men went to fight in the war, I guess I kinda took up his role, but I never really felt like I was good enough."

Zuko stared at Sokka, not really sure what else to say. 

"That's rough, buddy." 

They lapsed into a painfully awkward silence after that, and Zuko was considering just up and leaving when he felt something weird shift from within himself. 

"Huh." Said Zuko.

Sokka glanced at him. 

"What's up?"

Zuko shook his head. 

"I-I don't know. It feels like someone is pulling at my chi. Calling me." 

Sokka hummed. "That sounds like avatar stuff. I'll just leave you to it." 

He turned heel and began walking away, but the sudden apparition of Avatar Kyoshi that appeared before him quickly drew the other boy back.

"Woah…" 

"Avatar Zuko," Said Kyoshi, "I would wish you a pleasant stay on Kyoshi, but danger looms on the horizon--" 

"Danger?" Sokka interrupted, "What kind of danger?" 

Zuko was quick to shush him, but the woman paid him no mind. 

"The Fire Navy approaches quickly. They will arrive on the island by dusk, and when they find you here, they will not hesitate to burn Kyoshi to the ground."

"But-- I don't get it," Said Zuko, "How does the Fire Nation know we're here?" 

"Word travels fast, young avatar." 

"So… You're saying we should leave?" 

Kyoshi nodded. "You have a long journey ahead of you, Zuko. It is not wise to stay in one place for too long, so leave, yes… But not without reminding the Fire Nation that Kyoshi Island is protected." 

Zuko swallowed hard and motioned for Sokka to go collect the others. He watched him run off, and when he was gone, Kyoshi addressed him again. 

"You're worried about the journey that lies ahead of you." She stated. 

Zuko nodded.

"So much has changed," He said, "And the world is in pieces. And now, it's up to me to fix it, but I don't think I can. Why am _I_ the Avatar? Why not someone like Azula, a prodigy. Or Aang, people love him." 

She shook her head. "Things do not always come easy, young avatar. Bending came easy for your sister, yes. And making friends is easy for your friend. You've had to work hard your whole life, and I know you will continue to work hard now. You're stubborn, and persistent. Kind of like an earth bender." 

"I will be there to help you in the challenge that lies immediately before you. As for ending this war, you will always have me and your other past lives to call on." 

And then she was gone.

\--

Appa touched down on the leading Fire Navy ship, and Zuko barely had time to jump off the bison before the deck swarmed with Fire Nation soldiers. 

He stood up ramrod straight, and he flashed the soldiers with what he hoped was an intimidating glare. Zuko never struggled to look angry, but he felt anxiety welling in his stomach and he wouldn't find it surprising if it showed on his face.

The soldier's uniforms had changed from what he had known one hundred years ago. There were no more shoulder spikes, and he noticed they were more streamline, but they were still undeniably Fire Nation. 

Zuko's chest ached at the prospect of fighting them. These were still his people, and he was still a prince.

But he knew that they did not hold the same qualms about fighting him. They did not have any qualms about burning down an entire village. 

"Turn your ships around," He said, "Leave Kyoshi in peace." 

A man in a commander's uniform laughed and pushed his way past the soldiers.

"So you must be the Avatar," He said, "What a joke. You're hardly a teenager." 

Zuko curled his fists and took a calming breath.

"Turn these ships around." 

He went ignored as the commander's gaze landed on the others who had climbed down to back him up. His eyes were predatory as he scanned them over, but when he narrowed in on Azula and her headpiece, confused recognition flashed in his eyes. 

"My, my," He said, "I suppose the stories are true. You're Prince Zuko and Princess Azula. You two should be long dead." 

"Long story." Zuko muttered.

"You'll have to forgive my lack of respect, your highnesses," Said the Commander, "But here you are, conspiring with Water Tribe savages and an Air Nomad. I believe that makes you traitors. Do you really deserve my respect?" 

Azula smirked and crossed her arms.

"Of course I understand, Commander," She said, "But _you'll_ have to forgive _me_ for laughing when we sink your sorry fleet."

She attacked then, launching an arc of fire across the deck. The Commander and his soldiers stumbled backwards, and Azula used this opportunity to press forward. 

Zuko and the others were quick to join the fray alongside her, and the deck was very quickly engulfed in battle. 

Zuko found the ship's Commander as the man was blocking the flames from Azula's kick. In defending himself from his sister, the man had momentarily left his side vulnerable, and Zuko acted fast. He punched forward with a flame, and the man fell sideways. 

"Last chance!" Zuko yelled, feeling his chi rage with power. "Turn the ships around or I'll send them to the sea floor." 

The Commander, despite actively losing his battle with the siblings, sneered at him.

"Like you could," He said.

At the dare, he felt a kind of power similar to what he had felt come over him at the Southern Air Temple, and he knew then that Kyoshi had made good on her promise. 

He yielded to her, letting the barriers to his past lives fall away, and he emerged in the Avatar State.

He felt the earth humming loudly below the water, and the Avatar stomped his foot, lifting the seafloor. He thought that it shouldn't be possible, but distantly, he felt as though he had done it before.

With the combined power of the past Avatar's at his disposal, Zuko made quick work of destroying the fleet; and he learned that Azula had not been lying when she had said that she would laugh as the fleet went down. 

Before he could destroy the last ship, Zuko felt himself calm, and he supposed that was a good thing, as the last ship was the one where he and his friends currently stood. 

"Consider this a mercy, and use this mercy wisely," He said to the now defeated commander, "Turn this ship around and take it back to the Fire Nation, and when you get there, make sure they know what happened here."

"The Avatar is back." 

\--

Back in the Fire Nation, an over zealous prince lay himself at his father's throne. The Prince felt scorned at the idea of lying himself down at someone else's feet, but he hid his contempt. He had a proposition to deliver.

"Father," Said the prince, "My brother failed at the walls of Ba Sing Se, and he let that failure consume him. He has not been home in years, whereas I have been at your side all this time. I care only for the Fire Nation's best interest. Use me, Father. Make me crown prince, and I assure you, I will not fail as my brother has." 

The Father stared at his son, considering his request for a long moment before making his decision.

"I will make you a deal," He said, and a vile grin spread across the Prince's face.

"The Avatar has returned, and already he has caused problems for the Fire Nation. This will not stand." 

"I think, my son, it's time for a family reunion. I want you to bring to me my brother and my sister," Azulon said.

"Once you've done this, Prince Ozai, the title will be yours."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahh there you have it, the bitch lord himself. 
> 
> this chapter was very hard to write, I used to think about this chapter a lot before I even started writing the first chapter of this, and good lord, did it turn out WAY different than I had intended. low-key kind of mad about it :/
> 
> the beginning part with azula and sokka wasn't super necessary, but I wanted to see how she would have reacted to sokka's sexism, so I wrote it, because I do what I want.
> 
> writing azula and kyoshi scares the shit out of me. I don't know if I'm really that great at doing them justice so it is very intimidating. it's almost as bad as writing fucking battle scenes. those are gross.
> 
> I gotta keep it straight with y'all, I have NO idea where to go from here. I never thought I'd get this far, not even gonna lie. I have some plans for two future chapters, but those are further down the line and I have no idea how to get there so bear with me. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you did, make sure you leave a comment. it means a lot :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> aang has a dream and subsequently kidnaps zuko

_In his dreams, Aang soared high through the skies with Appa. He did not know where he was going, but his hands on the reigns led the way like they did._

_There was someone behind them on a glider, trying to keep up, and whenever the man got within ear shot, he nagged at Aang and berated him. Aang smiled brightly at the man whenever this happened, before urging Appa onward and leaving the man in his wake._

_Over the horizon, an island came into view. As they flew closer and closer, the island’s call to him grew, and Aang knew then where he was going._

_He guided Appa downwards, and the two friends flew over the island's wilderness, through the ancient remains of a city, and past a great staircase before landing in a court yard where an ancient temple loomed over them._

_The man who had been tailing him touched down with his glider just as Aang had dismounted. Aang sighed heavily and ran his hands down his face before he turned to confront the man._

_“Alright, Monk Tashi, you got me.” He said, “What are you doing in my dreams? And what is this place..?”_

_The monk tsked and shook his head._

_“It is a funny trick the spirits have played on us,” Said the old man, “Giving to the world, a petulant child as the Avatar, with_ you _as his spirit guide.”_

_Aang frowned. He didn't often think of himself as Zuko's spirit guide. He was his air bending teacher and he was his friend. It was strange to think of himself as anything more._

_Maybe it was because he hadn't technically had anyone stress the roll upon him one hundred years. Back then, Aang hadn't been meant to be the Avatar's air bending teacher. He was young and had only recently mastered the element, so Zuko would have learned under someone else. But, by nature, Aang was also more spiritually inclined, and the elders had been quick to notice that. After discovering that, it wasn't long before they realized his destiny was entangled with the Avatar, and that was all he heard about for a long time afterwards._

_Monk Gyatso had been the only one to remember he was still a kid. Everyone else had changed after that, and all anyone had wanted to do was lecture him and make him train for hours. They wanted him to grow up._

_The past few weeks out of the ice had been a reprieve from all that, but he realized that that was over now, because there he was again._

_"What do you mean?” He said, “You and the elders said that I had to use my spiritual-y-ness to help the Avatar. Which I did. Now I’m here, answering a call from the spirits. I think I’m doing a great job as spirit guide.”_

_“A great job?” scoffed Monk Tashi, “Tell me child, do you understand why you have been called here?”_

_Aang glanced around to observe his surroundings. He rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly at the old master._

_“Um…” He said, “To learn about history..?’_

_Monk Tashi rolled his eyes. “The Avatar needs an animal guide, you young fool!”_

_Aang frowned. “An animal guide for Zuko? I don’t get it, why would the spirits call on me for this and not him?”_

_The man shook his head. “In the last week, Avatar Zuko has done nothing but fret over his ailing sister, and will not hear their calls. Tell me Aang, why have you, the Avatar's spirit guide, allowed him to stray so?"_

_"He's not straying," Aang protested, "Azula's got fire fever. He's just been looking out for her."_

_"No." Said Tashi, "It is the Avatar's duty to bring balance to the world. He cannot do this if he himself is unbalanced. The Avatar needs an animal guide and proper spiritual training. You must not allow him to stray."_

_Aang rolled his eyes. It was like nothing had changed and he was still back at the Southern Air Temple, which... Was kind of nice... But still, he was annoyed. Aang had been expected to sacrifice fun for his duty, and now Zuko can't even look after a family member for his? How was that fair?_

_Still, an animal guide would be good for Zuko. Ever since leaving Kyoshi Island, the other boy had become snappish and withdrawn, only emerging from his bad mood when Azula had fallen ill. And so Aang stopped to consider his options. His eyes lit up when an idea came to mind._

_"What about Momo?" Aang said, "I bet_ he _could be his animal guide!"_

_Monk Tashi glowered. "No." He said, "You must bring him here."_

_"But I don't even know where_ here _is!"_

_"He raised an eyebrow, "You found it, didn't you?"_

_"Yeah, but-- Where are you going?"_

_Monk Tashi was fading from sight as darkness crept into the world around him to take it away. He realized that he must've been waking up, and as this occurred to him, he became acutely aware of the uncomfortable amount of warmth seeping into his bones._

_“It would seem that your sick travelling companion has caused you to stir,” Tashi said, “You’d better hurry and wake up-- lest she burn the whole forest down.”_

The sounds of leaves crackling and flames roaring echoed in Aang’s ears. His eyes snapped open to the sight of their campfire from the night before blazing strong and tall. The tips of the flames licked at the low-lying canopy of leaves above them, and wisps of blue flame were dancing their way into the inferno. 

Aang scrambled from his bed roll to wake Azula before she burnt down the entire forest in her sleep. 

He reached her just as Zuko had startled awake. He noticed Katara's water skin lying by Zuko's hand, and he took it, dumping it's contents out over the sleeping princess. 

"She'll kill you for that," Zuko commented as the girl sputtered awake, but Aang didn't have it in him to care. The fire had died down, and he could breathe easy. 

"Who--?!" 

Zuko pointed at Aang.

"It was him." 

"Only because you were fire bending in your sleep and were about to burn the forest down."

Azula was unimpressed.

"Don't be ridiculous," She said, "Only children with no self-restraint lose control of their fire like that. It was probably Zuko." 

Zuko scoffed. " _I'm_ not the one with fire fever." 

Azula glared at him. "Oh, I'll give you fire fever." She said,

And then spit in his face.

Zuko recoiled and wiped his face with one hand while the other lit with fire.

"Woah!" Aang said, grabbing Zuko's wrist. "Maybe don't fight your sick sister?" 

Zuko nodded and let the flames die in his hold. "Fine," He said, looking pointedly at Azula, "But I won't forget this." 

Azula shrugged, and settled back into her bedroll. 

"Of course you won't," She said, "You're dramatic as ever, Zuzu." 

She pulled the covers over her head, and turned away from them, putting an end to the conversation before he could even get the last word.

Zuko seethed, but Aang brightened as he recalled his dream, and grinned widely at the fire bender.

"Zuko! We've got to get you an animal guide!"

Zuko scowled. "What?"

"An animal guide!" Aang exclaimed, "All the past Avatars have had one!"

"...And you're bringing this up now because--"

"--Because I had a dream. You have to listen to dreams!" 

Zuko frowned and crossed his arms. "I don't know…"

"Come on Zuko, where would you and I be if we didn't listen to dreams?" 

"At home, in my room, in a palace." Came Azula's muffled response.

Aang dismissed her with a shake of his head, and sat down next to Zuko.

"No," He said, "We'd be missing out on all this fun! C'mon Zuko, it could be like an adventure."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "You and I have had enough adventure, thanks. Besides, I can't leave Azula when she's sick." 

"Yes you can. Fuck off." 

"Did you hear that?" He said, " _Azula_ says it's okay. Besides, weren't you two just about to fight?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

Aang blinked and stared at his friend. Siblings were weird.

There was a beat of silence, and then Aang leapt to his feet, and pulled Zuko by the arm. 

"Come on, Zuko! Katara and Sokka can hold down the fort while we're gone, it'll be fine!" 

Zuko groaned and clambered to his feet.

"Fine," He said, "But if we're gone longer than a day I'm going to be pissed." 

\--

As he and Aang grew further and further away from the earth kingdom, and closer and closer to the fire nation, it became increasingly clear that they would not be returning to camp within the day. 

Under normal circumstances, Zuko might have been pleased at the prospect of going home. However, under their current circumstances, the idea just opened up a pit of anxiety in his stomach. 

Zuko was not falling under any false pretenses. He knew that by now, the Fire Nation likely considered him a traitor. One could not leave hundreds of your own country men to drown at sea and expect to be welcomed home. 

Despite what Azula would have people believe, Zuko was not a fool. He wished that he was naive enough to imagine that all of the soldiers had survived. That they had all made it to safety on the one remaining ship that he had spared, but he knew this wasn’t the case. Zuko had killed his own countrymen. Zuko was a murderer. 

In any case, he knew that flying into a nation where you were not welcome would likely invite unwanted trouble, and that for now, they should be flying away from the Fire Nation. Not straight into it. 

“You never told me we were going to the Fire Nation.” He grumbled.

Aang shrugged. “To be honest,” He said, “I don’t actually know where we’re going.”

Zuko felt his eyes grow wide with alarm. “What?!” 

Aang chuckled and ducked Zuko’s harsh glare, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Um. I kinda just have this intuition.”

“Intuition.” 

“Heh. Yeah…” He said, “But I trust it though! Didn’t it work last time?” 

Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“The last time was a dream.”

“A spirit dream,” Aang corrected, “Come on, Zuko, trust me! I’m your spirit guide.”

Zuko threw his head back and groaned dramatically. I can’t believe this,” He said, “We’re doomed.”

Aang grinned brightly.

“Wow!” He said, “That’s what Monk Tashi said too!” 

\--

Zuko could admit that he may be partially responsible for his and Aang’s current predicament-- just partially. 

Zuko paced the floor of the temple where they had been trapped, while Aang slouched against one of the sealed off exits and sulked. 

“Gee, Zuko,” Aang said, “Why’d you have to go and touch that egg?” 

Zuko frowned and shrugged his shoulders half-heartedly. “I don’t know,” He said, “I just felt like I should-- Okay?” 

“Because you felt like it? That’s not a good reason!”

Zuko scowled, rounding on Aang. “Oh, so when you follow a feeling, it’s alright, but when I do it’s not?”

Aang crossed his arms. “ _I_ didn’t crack some ancient stone and get us sealed inside a temple.”

Zuko huffed. “Well at least I made something happen.” 

“If only you hadn’t,” Aang muttered before stopping short.

“--Did you hear that?”

Zuko raised an eyebrow. “Hear what?” 

Aang hushed him and cupped his ear to the door, visibly straining to listen.

“I think someone’s coming!” He declared, “I hear voices.”

As he spoke, the building groaned, and the stone doors slid open. 

Zuko watched warily as the doors crept open so agonizingly slow. A group of men clad in red and gold garbs stood on the other side. They pinned Zuko like a fly to a wall with their fiery gaze as they waited for the opening to grow wide enough to walk in. 

Zuko swallowed a lump in his throat as he shifted on his feet and prepared to defend himself should the warriors attack. 

Aang skirted to Zuko’s side as the men came forward, and the two of them met the warriors with brave faces as they approached.

“Thieves!” 

Aang held his hands up. “Um. It’s not what it looks like?” 

“You’re trying to steal our Sun Stone!”

“We’re really not,” Aang promised, “But uh… we do have some bad news for you…” He elbowed Zuko’s side. “Zuko, you wanna tell these guys what happened to their Sun Stone?” 

“I’m not telling them,” Zuko hissed. 

“You have to!” Said Aang, pulling on his sleeve. 

Zuko shoved Aang away and hissed for him to stop. Aang scowled and pushed him back. 

“You broke it.”

Zuko flicked Aang’s arrow and hissed for him to be quiet. ”They don’t know that!” 

Aang stumbled back, affronted, and rubbed his head where he had been flicked. 

An outraged cry came from behind them, and they both flinched. 

Well.

They knew now. 

“You cracked the Sun Stone!” Cried one of the warriors. 

“It--It was an accident,” Zuko admitted, “I was only holding it for like a second.” 

This did not ease any tensions, and Zuko cringed as he realized that his words had only served to horrify them more. A few of the warriors glanced at their leader, a man identified by his headdress and war paint, awaiting his command to attack.

But no such command came. The man held the treasure close, and regarded Zuko with an inscrutable expression. 

“You are responsible for this?”

Zuko nodded and avoided eye contact. 

“Yeah…” He said, “And Aang… He had nothing to do with it, he was only answering a spirit call.” 

The man’s gaze shifted to Aang. “The spirits called you here?”

“They meant for Zuko to come, but he was too busy taking care of his sick sister to notice. She almost burned a forest down.” 

“We were looking for an animal guide.” Zuko supplied. 

“Yeah! Cause he’s the Avatar.” 

“They lie,” Said the warrior from before, “Clearly, they came here to loot us.” 

“Quiet, Ham Ghao,” The leader said, “I believe them.” 

_“What?!”_

_“You do..?”_

_“Wow! Thanks!”_

The leader nodded solemnly and held his hand up to silence the murmuring that had broken out around him. 

"This boy did not harm the Sun Stone." He said, "The Sun Stone reacted to him."

Zuko frowned. "What, you mean like it's alive?" 

"Yes. The time is finally upon us," The leader said, "The Sun Stone is hatching."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone!! sorry that this was such a long wait for such a short chapter, but i've been busy with school and my friends, and just haven't really had a lot of motivation to write. this chapter and the next come right before a chapter i've really been excited to write, so having to write this chapter instead of the one I wanted to was kind of a drag. 
> 
> ill definitely try to get the next chapter up quickly, but i've also been trying (and failing (like really failing)) to keep up with nanowrimo, so it's hard for me to split time between multiple projects so we'll see.
> 
> thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed, if you did let me know in the comments! you can also find me on Tumblr @ carmens-bitch :)

**Author's Note:**

> i have a rough plan for this, and i do plan to continue, but i am notoriously bad at updating, so we'll see. if this gets enough attention i'll try to stick to a regular update pattern. if not, updates will probably be sporadic.


End file.
